Effect of replacing maize with milled mature pods of Prosopis juliflora on performance of finishing broiler chicken

J A Odero-Waitituh, A M King’ori¹ and A Y Guliye¹

Ministry of Livestock Development, PO Box 44-20100, Nakuru, Kenya
atiwaitts@gmail.com
¹ Department of Animal Sciences, Egerton University, P. O. Box 536-20115 Njoro, Kenya

Abstract

A study was conducted at Tatton Agricultural Park, (Egerton University) to determine the effect of replacing maize in broiler finisher diets (CBFD) with milled mature Prosopis pods (MMPP) on performance of broiler chicken. Four diets (PJ0, PJ10, PJ20 and PJ30 containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% MMPP, replacing maize) were fed to eighty broilers (Abor Acres strain), 29 days old weighing 0.82 ±0.08 kg (Mean ± SD) in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Each treatment/replicate had 20 broilers, with equal numbers of males and females.

All performance parameters were negatively affected as MMPP replaced maize grain in the diets.

Key words: agroforestry, feed conversion, growth, legume trees, maize

Introduction

Poultry feeds are mainly compounded from maize and milling by-products as part of the ingredients to provide energy. Maize is mainly used because it has high Metabolizable energy (ME). However 87% of Kenyans consume maize as a dietary staple food at an average intake of 400gm per person per day (Mbithi and Huyleenbroeck 2000; Shephard 2008). Kenyan human population was estimated at forty million people in 2009 with an annual growth rate of 2-3% (KNBS 2009). Therefore there is competition for maize between humans and Livestock. Mbithi and Huyleenbroeck (2000) reported that about 3% of total maize produced in Kenya is used as livestock feed and there are variations in the use depending on the production which is dependent on rainfall. The area planted with maize seem to have reached stagnation due to population pressure (Mbithi and Huyleenbroeck 2000), therefore intensification of production should be used to increase production per unit area. Onsando (2014) reported maize lethal necrosis disease (MLND) to have caused reduction in maize production by 80% in 2014 and ways of reducing the disease will be to stop planting of maize for seasons and dress the seeds with insecticide and fungicide. This is anticipated to cause high prices of maize in subsequent years as there will be periods of scarcity.  Poultry farmers, have experienced and are expected to experience high feed prices and fluctuation in quality and quantity during the dry season and following years of inadequate rainfall. Inadequate supply of feed ingredients compromises quality of available feeds leading to poor growth rate, low egg production and hatchability, susceptibility to diseases and increased feed prices. This lowers the profitability of poultry production. Therefore, there is need to evaluate locally available alternative feed resources that are affordable, available all year round, and with little or no competition with people. The pods of Prosopis juliflora are a locally available feed resource non-competitive with human food supply. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of broiler chicken offered diets with milled mature prosopis pods (MMPP) partially replacing maize.

Materials and Methods

Prosopis Pods and Experimental diets

Prosopis juliflora mature pods obtained from Marigat Sub County in Baringo County (Photo 1) were used in the study. Marigat is located at latitude 0⁰ 20’N and longitude 35⁰ 57’E Kenya (FAO 1992). It is about 1500m above sea level with a mean annual rainfall of 600-800mm with weak bimodal peaks recorded from March- May and June-August. Soils are mainly clay loams with alluvial deposits derived from tertiary / quaternary volcanic and pyroclastic rock sediments that have been weathered and eroded from the uplands. They contain high levels of P, K, Ca and Mg and low levels of N and C. They range from acidic to slightly alkaline (Mwangi and Swallow 2005).The pods were collected from the ground after the trees were shaken. Spoilt and mouldy pods were discarded. The pods were put in gunny bags and transported to Kays Premium feeds (Nakuru town). Milling of whole pods was done according to the procedure described by Choge et al (2006) and flour passed through a 5mm sieve.

The proximate composition [dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), ether extract (EE) and ash)] of MMPP and the experimental diets was determined using the standard procedures of AOAC (1990, 2006). Gross energy (GE) for MMPP was determined using a "e2K" combustion calorimeter (www.cal2k.com, South Africa). Total extractable phenolics (TEP) were determined as described by Abdulrazak and Fujihara (1999). A sample of MMPP was sent to Novus laboratories in the United States for determination  of the amino acid profile.

Photo 1. Prosopis juliflora tree and pods

Study Site

The study was conducted at the Indigenous Chicken Improvement Programme (INCIP) Poultry Unit, Tatton Agricultural Park of Egerton University, Nakuru County. Egerton is located at latitude 0º 23’S and longitude 35º 57’E with an altitude of 2,238m above sea level. It has a mean daily temperature of 21^oC.  There is bimodal rainfall pattern (March to May and June to September) with a mean annual rainfall of 900 - 1,020mm. (Egerton University, Meteorological Station 2010). The study was conducted between May and June 2011. The room temperature was in the range of 20-25 ^o C.

Experimental animals and management

One hundred day old unsexed broilers (Abor acres strain) were acquired from Kenchick Nakuru branch offices. They were group brooded using a charcoal stove for three weeks. Amintotal^®, a multi vitamin was administered in clean water from day one to five. They were vaccinated as follows, Mereks disease at hatchery, New Castle disease-10^th and 26^th day, Infectious Bursal disease/ Gumboro-14^th and 21^st day. On the 27^th day they were transported to Egerton University, Tatton Agricultural Park, INCIP and offered control diet for two days for adaptation. On the seventh week an anthelminthic (Ascarex^®) was administered via drinking water for one day followed by an antibiotic/coccidiostat (amidiostat^®) combined with a multivitamin (amintotal^®) for 5 days.

The birds were housed in pens with an area of 2m². The pens had been previously cleaned with liquid soap, disinfected using omnicide^® ,dusted with Sevin^® dudu dust and about 10cm thick of wood shavings put as bedding before introduction of the birds. The pens were well ventilated with lighting 24 hours a day.

Experimental design and dietary treatments

Eighty, 29 day old broilers with similar body weights per treatment were selected and randomly assigned to four treatments in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD).  The average initial broiler weight was 0.82 ±0.08 kg (Mean ± SD). The experimental unit was a pen with 10 broilers of the same sex with similar body weights.  Each treatment was replicated twice. The experimental period was 28 days. The four experimental diets were offered to the birds ad libitum at 0900 h daily using clean disinfected feeders. The next day at the same time (0900 h), the feeders were cleared of any leftover feed, weighed, recorded and fresh feed provided. Clean drinking water was provided throughout the experiment.

Statistical analysis

Data from the experiment were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using the general linear model (GLM) of SAS software (Statistical Analysis Systems 2002).   Differences between treatment means were separated using Turkey’s Range Procedure. Regression analysis was done with the Excel program in Microsoft Office 2010.

Results and discussion

Crude fiber and total phenolics in the diet increased, and crude protein, Ca and P, decreased,  with increasing inclusion of MMPP in the diet (Table 2).

All performance parameters were negatively affected as MMPP replaced maize (Table 4; Figure 1). The close association between total phenolics in the diet and levels of MMPP (Figures 2 and 3) indicate that the level of these compounds in MMPP was the principal factor determining broiler performance.  Water intake increased with level of inclusion of MMPP in the diets and the feces became wet. Presumably the "bitter" taste of the prosopis meal caused the increase in water consumption.

Figure 1. Effect of level of MMPP in the diet on growth rate of the broilers	Figure 2. Effect of level of MMPP in the diet on total phenolics in the diet	Figure 3. Effect of level of total phenolics in the diet on growth rate of the broilers

The linear decrease in growth rate with increasing levels of MMPP replacing maize is in marked contrast with reports by Elabdin and Mukhtar (2011) and AL-Beitawi et al (2010) who reported that levels of up to 20% of prosopis pod meal could be included in diets of broilers with no loss of performance.  It is well known that anti-nutritional factors such as tannins, trypsin inhibitors, lectins, alkaloids and saponins, depress feed intake (Ortega-Nieblas 1996).  Vohra et al (1966) showed that tannins interfere with Gastro Intestinal Tract (GIT) absorption and secretory activities and levels above 4% inclusion (40 mg/kg)  led to high mortality, sloughing of mucosa of the oesophagus, subcutaneous oedema and crop thickening. The negative effect of MMPP on the performance of broilers in our experiment could have been due to tannins forming enzyme-tannin complexes reducing digestive enzymes activities.

Conclusions

• All performance parameters were negatively affected as MMPP replaced maize grain in broiler diets.

References

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Received 21 April 2015; Accepted 4 January 2016; Published 1 February 2016

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